< Back Research On the Verge of New Era in Cancer Treatment "In Vietnam, the military had a saying: 'We'll have to destroy this village in order to save it,'" recalls Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh Researcher Seth Corey, M.D. "That line of thinking is a lot like the way we currently treat cancer. We use toxic drugs that kill cells throughout the entire body. These agents don't discriminate between normal cells and cancer cells." Dr. Corey believes that this "broad brush" treatment approach will give way to better, more effective cancer treatments that destroy cancer cells while sparing those that are normal. His American Cancer Society-supported research is helping to make this new kind of treatment - known as signal transduction therapy - a reality. It targets the molecules that "signal" cells to develop and reproduce as cancer cells. "Signal transduction therapy is based on the study of enzymes and their targets," explains Dr. Corey. "These are proteins within cells that regulate their growth and determine whether a given cell will undergo the abnormal changes that transform it into a cancer cell." By identifying these enzymes and their targets, researchers like Dr. Corey hope to develop treatments that target cancer cells specifically, causing less toxicity and fewer debilitating side effects to patients. Joyce Brazino Marketing Communications 1212 Pine Street Philadelphia, PA 19107 Phone: 215-985-0860 Fax: 215-985-0868 e-mail: joybraz@aol.com